Changed Sort?

[David_Heizer 0]

Hi, I was just prompted to install the latest update, and now my sorting is all screwed up.

 

It appears to be attempting some version of Windows's damnable "smart sort", where numbers, etc. sort according to some algorithm rather than logically.

 

For example,

• 1Z used to sort after 12; now it comes first
• 11/08 used to sort before 5; no longer
• 2000 used to sort before 60,000; no longer

My whole To-Do list architecture just got blown up! Help!

[jefito 5,598]

Interesting. Other users have asked for exactly this feature for years.

 

I saw no option for this, but the behavior may possibly be governed by a registry setting. That'd take a bit of spelunking; I didn't see anything obvious in the registry, but there are ways...

[David_Heizer 0]

I could see it as an optional feature, but it should be optional, which as near as I can determine this change doesn't appear to be.

 

I remember when Windows first changed to "natural" sorting, the geekier users were up in arms for the same reason: tens or hundreds of thousands of files sorted by meticulously encoded filenames suddenly reordered. A non-programmer-type can't imagine why 1000 should possibly sort before 200, while a programmer-type like me relies on 1 always sorting before 2.

[BurgersNFries 2,407]

Hi, I was just prompted to install the latest update, and now my sorting is all screwed up.

 

It appears to be attempting some version of Windows's damnable "smart sort", where numbers, etc. sort according to some algorithm rather than logically.

 

For example,

• 1Z used to sort after 12; now it comes first
• 11/08 used to sort before 5; no longer
• 2000 used to sort before 60,000; no longer

My whole To-Do list architecture just got blown up! Help!

Sounds like you've got your notes in descending order. Just click on the title bar to switch back to ascending order.

[David_Heizer 0]

Like this? (I should mention, I'm acquainted with sorting one direction vs. the other.)

[dconnet 529]

That is the correct sort order. The numbers are identified as:

12

12

60

2000

2015

2015

 

We are now using the same API for sorting that Window Explorer uses. There is no option to toggle to the old style. It was considered a bug that we weren't consistent with how Explorer sorted.

[jefito 5,598]

About what I figured. Thanks for the explanation.

[David_Heizer 0]

We are now using the same API for sorting that Window Explorer uses. There is no option to toggle to the old style. It was considered a bug that we weren't consistent with how Explorer sorted.

Thanks for the confirmation; that's what I figured.

 

It's probably easiest just to adapt to the new regime, but if I were to follow the directions for changing the Windows Explorer policy setting to literal sorting, would Evernote follow suit? Or is it non-dependent?

[jefito 5,598]

Not for me to say.

 

Using the Windows API is Ok, because if may help Windows users who have expectations related to Windows Explorer sorting. What's awkward is that users may have accounts on other devices where sorting rules are different (I believe that that's the case, though I don't know for sure). The effect is that depending a lot on sorting rules across different devices isn't reliable. You'd need to come up with some sort of canonical format for note titles (if that's what you're sorting by) such that they sort the same everywhere.